1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to network communications, and more particularly to a system which allows a user to prepare and broadcast information over the Internet to an audience of individuals, simultaneously.
2. Background Of The Invention
Today, most information on a network such as the Internet is accessed in a passive manner, from the standpoint of the information source. That is, a user at a personal computer typically accesses the Internet through a dial-up service provider, and uses browsing software to xe2x80x9cpullxe2x80x9d information from Internet servers for viewing. Although commercial utilities and services are available which xe2x80x9cpushxe2x80x9d information from the server side to subscribing users, they usually deliver the information for passive or off-line viewing.
In addition, most existing Internet access systems are designed only for one-to-one communications. That is, Internet users commonly communicate with web sites and receive information directly from web servers on a purely one-to-one basis. Thus, new technology is desirable to expand Internet communication techniques beyond simple one-to-one, passive types of communication.
The invention relates to a system and method for network communications which permit a network user such as an Internet user, acting as a session conductor, to broadcast in real time an interactive presentation to a predetermined group of users across the World Wide Web. The system and method of the invention allow the session conductor to retrieve information from network databases or other sources in real time and use that information to present a multimedia broadcast session. The session conductor directs the system to forward the multimedia session to the session audience at a designated time. Members of the session audience may choose to follow the presentation passively or actively participate in the presentation through a multimedia bridge.